By: Travis Allen
@wizardbumpin
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With Thanksgiving this past week, major Magic events in North America were sparse. Or, rather, nonexistent. A single GP fired in Japan, but it was Legacy, a format whose ability to influence card prices has been questionable for the past two years and is now approaching whatever the opposite of the speed of light is. That said, we can still check in on some MTGO league results to see if we can spot any juicy turkeys.
Aetherworks Marvel
Price Last Week: $4
Price Today: $4
Possible Price: $20
Lately the story of Standard lately has been GB Delirium and UW Flash. Yet even prior to the Pro Tour, decks that focus on generating energy and dumping that into Aetherworks Marvel to cast Emrakul, the Promised End and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger have been right on the edge of the format. The deck hasn’t exactly been an award-winning strategy lately, mostly due to its relative inconsistency, but lists are managing to show up in the 5-0 results of MTGO leagues.
Aetherwork’s appeal doesn’t come from the results it put up this weekend, but rather the results it may put up in a month or two. Aether Revolt officially releases January 20th, and we can expect it to bring a slew of energy cards with it when it does. While energy creation hasn’t been the Aetherworks deck’s biggest issue, it’s certainly a component, and smoothing out that aspect of the strategy could go a long ways towards building a better mousetrap.
There are also fringe strategies developing in Modern that allow this to function even without energy support. It’s easy to forget that Aetherworks is capable of generating its own energy, a fact that (theoretically) allows for a player to drop it turn four, bin six permanents, and then fire off the Marvel in hopes of finding an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. I’m not relying on Modern demand, but it certainly doesn’t hurt the prospects.
At $4, this is quite low for a semi-playable Modern mythic. If we look at the MTGO pricing we can see that it began to tick upwards ever so slightly a week or two ago, which is a good sign for paper prices. If Aether Revolt turns on Aetherworks Marvel again in Standard, expect prices to rise dramatically, possibly to a seat as the most expensive mythic in Kaladesh. That may sound unlikely, but what else would you expect a tier one mandatory four-of mythic to cost?
Cryptbreaker
Price Last Week: $1.50
Price Today: $1.50
Possible Price: $7
While he was the darling of Eldritch Moon spoilers at one point, Cryptbreaker hasn’t broken much of anything except for perhaps the hearts of zombie lovers everywhere. Zombie-based black aggro decks have been relegated to 2-2 FNM performances everywhere for the most part, though it seems as if that may be changing.
Multiple lists have popped up in the 5-0 leagues lately featuring Cryptbreaker as a major component of a zombie-themed offense. It’s no surprise that if the deck exists, Cryptbreaker is going to be right there, breaking into crypts, and breaking out of crypts, and generally being a threat to all crypt-oriented existences.
$1.50 today is a steal compared to the $20 or whatever Cryptbreaker debuted at during prerelease season. And, like Aetherworks Marvel, his price on MTGO is heading in the right direction. I don’t mind looking for cheap copies of this guy when I’m out and about, because there’s no telling what may bring a tier one competitive zombie deck together in the near future. There’s no guarantee we’ll see this card break through this season, but it’s certainly worth keeping your eye on.
Metallurgic Summonings
Price Last Week: $2.50
Price Today: $2.50
Possible Price: $10
It’s been easy to miss, but Metallurgic Summonings has suddenly found itself all over my Twitter timeline recently. Multiple pros, faced with the prospect endless GB or UW mirrors, are turning to an amusing and pleasantly effective brew with Summonings. The core of the deck is the same that was pioneered several weeks back; Metallurgic Summonings, Part the Waterveil, and a pile of other instants and sorceries. The latest build has been UB, though I’d expect any number of color combinations to be explored.
Initially a $2.50 card during the prerelease season, it spiked to over $10 after the initial list was posted. Reality rapidly set in, and it has coasted all the way back down to $2.50 again. If the deck begins to assert itself in the metagame for real this time, expect price movement to be swift. This is a nifty deck with real appeal, after all — who doesn’t want to play a deck with four Time Walks?